Data center restrictions tracker · Washington

Data center moratoriums and restrictions in Washington (2026)

Data snapshot 2026-08-15 · part of Pricing the Fear of Data Centers

As of August 15, 2026, this tracker documents 13 local government actions on data centers in Washington, across 12 jurisdictions in 9 counties: 11 moratoria and 2 zoning exclusions. By status: 10 in force, 2 replaced, and 1 enacted.

At the state level, the state has an incentive rollback (enacted).

Data centers in Washington used about 6.3 TWh of electricity in 2024; EPRI, Powering Intelligence 2026 (state-level dashboard) projects 9.5 TWh in its 2030, EPRI medium scenario.

Statewide actions in Washington

  • Washington: incentive rollback, enactedSB 6231 (enacted 2026): narrows the data center tax exemption to refurbished facilities only. Instrument: SB 6231. Source: NCSL May 2026 deck (Montana Legislature mirror).

Local actions in Washington

Every documented local action in Washington in the August 15, 2026 snapshot. Documented actions, not a census.
JurisdictionCountyActionStatusDate
MarysvilleSnohomish CountyMoratoriumin forceJuly 13, 2026
Federal WayKing CountyMoratoriumin forceJuly 7, 2026
BurienKing CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 29, 2026
Snohomish CountySnohomish CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 24, 2026
SpokaneSpokane CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 23, 2026
SeattleKing CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 9, 2026
SeattleKing CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 9, 2026
Skagit CountySkagit CountyMoratoriumin forceJune 1, 2026
Walla Walla CountyWalla Walla CountyZoning exclusionin forceFebruary 12, 2026
Grant County PUDGrant CountyZoning exclusionenactedMarch 25, 2025
East WenatcheeDouglas CountyMoratoriumreplacedMarch 27, 2018
WenatcheeChelan CountyMoratoriumreplacedFebruary 22, 2018
PascoFranklin CountyMoratoriumin forceundated

What one campus pays a local government

The parent piece's calculator puts a single large campus at $2M to $90M a year in local revenue, depending on the tax regime and abatements. The reference campus (Project Blue scale: $3.6B of capital, 286 MW) pays about $157M to local governments over 10 years. Permanent jobs run around 50 per facility.

Tax regimeReference caseAnnual local revenue, lowAnnual local revenue, high
Aggressive abatementMorrow County OR (enterprise zone)$2M$3M
Partial abatementGeorgia audit representative campus / El Paso Meta$27.8M$56M
Unabated equipment taxVirginia-style rates (Loudoun is the ceiling)$50M$90M

Run your own numbers in the calculator on the parent piece. Jurisdictions in Washington that say no give up this revenue, not the jobs.

Sources

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